Development

Our project involves improving a handheld device that will be sold to and used by medical professionals in the field for detecting the levels of coagulation in the blood of trauma patients. To determine the systemic level of blood coagulation, electrochemical analysis is performed on a small chip containing the patient’s blood sample after the chip is inserted into the device. Predictable sample temperature is necessary to achieve an accurate measurement. The current device has no temperature control mechanisms, no external charging mechanism, and is not spatially optimized.

We are using a Peltier device combined with a temperature sensor to control the temperature of the inserted chip, and therefore the blood sample, after measuring the ambient temperature. The system is powered by a rechargeable battery, which will charge simultaneously with the phone battery through a single USB-C port. Later, we will create a PCB to integrate all the components into a single compact module and redesign the handheld device’s enclosure.

If we finish these tasks ahead of schedule, we plan on replacing the EmStat 3 with the EmStat Pico and interfacing this module with the Arduino, multiplexer, and chip reader and integrating it into the PCB. Additionally, if there is work to be done on the Android App, we would start adding/optimizing code within that area of the project.